Pay should be by individual merit, rather than annual increments that are the
same for all

The best evidence that Michael Gove’s reforms to education are having beneficial effects is that the teaching unions are so vociferous in opposing them. The Education Secretary is determined to drive up standards in Britain’s state schools. He is adamant that good teachers should be encouraged, and that poor ones should either improve or leave.

Those admirable goals have earned him the undying hatred of organisations and individuals who put the interests of inadequate teachers above the interests of children who need, and are entitled to expect, a decent education. Mr Gove’s reforms to GCSEs have ended the years of automatic grade inflation. They have generated a storm of protest on the grounds that they are “unfair”. But, in truth, they are merely a way of ensuring that a high grade at GCSE reflects a real ability rather than an imaginary one.

As we report today, the tougher inspection regime that Mr Gove has forced through starts this week. It will mean that it is easier for heads to identify and to sack incompetent teachers. By giving schools less than 24 hours’ notice of an inspection, it will give inspectors a much better idea of how each individual school operates. The new rules will also allow heads to restrict bonus payments to exceptional teachers, rather than paying them to the mediocre or the inadequate.

Mr Gove is doing a magnificent job, which we want him to continue. Indeed, we hope he will, in time, go further. Good teachers need to be better rewarded. Pay should be by individual merit, rather than annual increments that are the same for all, regardless of performance. That would be a significant step toward achieving what Mr Gove says is his most important goal: to make state schools just as good as those in the private sector.